The Brotherhood: Thomas Milton of Merrimack

Unlike the other inmate charged in the death of inmate Anthony Renzzulla, Thomas Milton, 30, did not have a history of assaults when he came to prison. He committed burglaries, riding from one house to the next on a bicycle in one case.

Milton, 30, along with inmate William Edic, was charged in June with second-degree murder of Anthony Renzzulla, 44, and with falsifying physical evidence for allegedly cleaning up the crime scene.

Members of BOWW believed Renzzulla had been sharing incriminating information about them with prison officials, according to a police affidavit. In that affidavit, Milton is described as a “junior member” of BOWW.

But the police have not said publicly how they linked Milton to BOWW or when they believe he joined. Milton did not respond to a request for an interview.

In 2005, when he was 22 and homeless, Milton burglarized two homes in Merrimack, one of which was his mother’s, according to a Union Leader account of his arrest. He rode from house to house on a bicycle.

The police found Milton at his mother’s home, hiding in a closet in her basement, with a backpack containing stolen change, a gold watch and a jewelry box, the paper reported. He was charged with and later convicted of two counts of burglary.

In 2007, Milton was arrested in Gorham and charged with burglary and arson after he and a 19-year-old woman broke into an elementary school and started two small fires, according to a Union Leader account of that arrest.

The police said the pair went into the school hoping to find prescription drugs in the nurse’s office but didn’t. Milton also set fires in the nurse’s office and the main entrance, the police said. Milton received a 2½-year prison sentence in that case.

Milton was back in prison on a parole violation for the arson conviction in 2010 when he allegedly helped attack Renzzulla.

Before the assault, Milton wrapped his hands and put on gloves to ensure prison investigators wouldn’t find marks on his hands, according to court records. He had also covered his face to hide his identity.

Renzzulla did not succumb to his injuries until November 2011. Milton and Edic were charged in June; at the time, Milton was free on parole and living in Florida. He was extradited to New Hampshire and is awaiting trial in the Grafton County jail.

Usually, defendants are held in the county in which they are charged. Ron White, superintendent of the Merrimack County jail, said Milton was being held elsewhere for “security reasons” but declined to elaborate.

Within months of forming in late 2005, the Brotherhood of White Warriors had spread its roots inside the New Hampshire correctional system. By 2008, it was the state’s fastest-growing prison gang, according to estimates from officials. Three years on, in 2011, the FBI added BOWW to a list of known criminal groups that posed a threat in the state. As …